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Luddite · 01-10-2018, 03:42 PM

So that was interesting. I went for a short blast around some local lanes and I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

Now, bearing in mind that this is a 115 N/mm spring and my ideal is a softer 105 N/mm, the hybrid Sachs/Öhlins shock is a great improvement over the stock item. There's a lot less kicking off bumps and less crashing over potholes. It's not as good as the pukka Öhlins, (I'm pleased to say - otherwise I'd wasted my money on the DU737!), but this does suggest that the problem with the Sachs unit lies mainly with its progressive spring and that the damping itself isn't too bad. I'd say that the hybrid is closer to the Öhlins than to the stock shock.

So, for any 696/796/1100 owner looking for a cheap and quick suspension upgrade, a spring swap with a linear spring rate tailored to yourself, seems like a good move. A DU737 is around £550, while the spring alone is about £75 so you're getting, say, 60% of the Öhlins performance for 15% of the price.

01-10-2018, 03:42 PM	#37
Luddite Registered User Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Southampton Bike: M1100evo Posts: 2,465	Part 2.2 So that was interesting. I went for a short blast around some local lanes and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Now, bearing in mind that this is a 115 N/mm spring and my ideal is a softer 105 N/mm, the hybrid Sachs/Öhlins shock is a great improvement over the stock item. There's a lot less kicking off bumps and less crashing over potholes. It's not as good as the pukka Öhlins, (I'm pleased to say - otherwise I'd wasted my money on the DU737!), but this does suggest that the problem with the Sachs unit lies mainly with its progressive spring and that the damping itself isn't too bad. I'd say that the hybrid is closer to the Öhlins than to the stock shock. So, for any 696/796/1100 owner looking for a cheap and quick suspension upgrade, a spring swap with a linear spring rate tailored to yourself, seems like a good move. A DU737 is around £550, while the spring alone is about £75 so you're getting, say, 60% of the Öhlins performance for 15% of the price.